


Always Take the Weather With You

by cumberhardhiddlesbitch



Series: The Rhombus 'Verse [28]
Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Moving In Together, Multi, Polyamory Negotiations, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:49:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27199432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cumberhardhiddlesbitch/pseuds/cumberhardhiddlesbitch
Summary: Shannon, Tom, and Ben discuss living arrangements.  Shannon tells Ben about one of her fantasies.
Relationships: Benedict Cumberbatch/Original Female Character(s), Benedict Cumberbatch/Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch/Tom Hardy/Original Female Character(s), Tom Hardy/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Rhombus 'Verse [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/715134
Kudos: 6





	Always Take the Weather With You

Ben bounded up the stairs of Tom’s house, letting himself in and turning towards the kitchen, as usual, when he stopped short at the sight of Shannon sitting on the sofa.

“Hello,” he said, walking across the broad open room. She’d turned towards the door as he’d come in and she looked as surprised to see him as he was to see her, though she smiled as he leaned over the back of the sofa to kiss her. He held the back of her head in his hand for a moment, giving her neck a quick squeeze before he walked round to the front to join her. She had apparently installed herself there some time before, a soft throw over her shoulders, book open on her lap, and a half empty mug of cooling tea perched on the ottoman before her. 

“I didn’t expect to find you here.” He picked up the mug and sat on the ottoman, facing her.

“I didn’t expect to see you either.” She closed her book and leaned forward, arms open. He leaned forward as well, standing and coaxing her up into a hug as he wrapped his arms around her. “I’m delighted to see you, of course.” She tilted her face up for a kiss, then rested her forehead on his chest for a moment. He held her, rubbing her back as she didn’t move from where her face was pressed into him.

“Is everything alright?” 

She stepped back and resumed her place on the sofa, pulling the throw around her shoulders again. “I just happened to be deep in thought when you came over,” she said. “There was something I wanted to talk to Tom about, and if he’s not too terribly exhausted when he comes home I thought I might have a moment to chat with him.”

“Do you need him all to yourself?” Ben didn’t relish the thought of leaving, but none of them had made plans for the evening, and if her need was greater than his simple desire to see Tom he would step away.

“Not at all, actually. It’s good that you’re here.” She yawned and covered her mouth, her eyes squinched shut for a moment. “I’m tired myself, so if he’s not up to talking, it will keep.”

“Something bad?” Not knowing what had brought her over to wait for Tom, even knowing he would be home at a later hour, made him feel on the edge of his seat.

“No, I promise,” she said. “I’ve just been trying to gather my thoughts, really. I still need a moment.”

“Well, I know what will help that.” He stood, taking her cold mug of tea with him. “Something herbal, this time of night?” He asked over his shoulder.

“The rooibos, please, with a touch of honey.”

“Sounds good.” He put the kettle on and poured her mug out in the sink, washing it and taking down two others. He leaned against the worktop as he waited for the kettle to boil, watching Shannon out of the corner of his eye. She had a small notebook open on her knee, kept flipping back and forth in the larger tome as she sketched on the pages with a stubby pencil.

Ben was just seasoning the pot with warm water when he saw Shannon sit straight up, setting her books aside.

“Something wrong?” He asked.

“Tom’s home.” She stood, catching the throw as it started to fall to the floor. She folded it and set it on the back of the sofa as he poured the hot water over the bags. He placed the teapot in the middle of the table on a trivet, listening. 

“I don’t think so.” A moment later he heard the door slam, and Tom’s unmistakable tread on the stair, the scrabble of dog paws and the jingle of Max’s tags not far behind. He tilted his head as he looked over at Shannon. “You could hear him at the door?”

“I’ve got a keen ear.” They were on opposite sides of the room when Tom walked in, looking slowly from one to the other.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” he said. “I think.” He raised a brow at Shannon, who nodded. Ben inclined his head slightly towards Shannon, watching as Tom went to her. She leaned towards him with her entire torso as he got near, their shoulders aligned as they embraced. Ben wandered towards them, hanging back as Tom spoke softly to her. After she answered, too low for him to hear, Tom looked up and held out an arm, beckoning him over. Ben stepped into his embrace as Tom turned away from Shannon, and wound up being pulled in by the both of them. 

Ben leaned forward to kiss Tom, shifting Shannon so she was more squarely between them so he could lean over her shoulder. Tom reached up from under her arm to hold on to the back of Ben’s shoulder, holding him steady as Shannon leaned back against him. Even with his eyes closed he knew he was being watched, the crown of Shannon’s head pushing back against his chest. She hummed happily, almost a trill, as they separated. 

“You’re so tall,” she said, leaning back against him. He kissed her temple, grasping Tom’s forearm as he stepped closer, squeezing her between them. 

“Did this somehow escape your attention previously?”

“No, I just realized that I like how you can lean over me to kiss Tom.” She nudged him with her elbow. “Do it again.”

Ben laughed, but did as she asked, lingering against Tom’s mouth, taking his lower lip between his teeth and holding him there for a moment until Tom growled at him. He drew away, looking down at Shannon’s flushed face. He kissed her forehead before stepping back, letting go of both her and Tom reluctantly.

“This is a fine welcome,” Tom said. “I didn’t expect to see you both.”

“I just came over on the off chance that you were home already, but I think Shannon had something she wanted to talk to you about.”

“Better to talk to both of you,” Shannon said. “But it doesn’t have to be now.”

“You really don’t need to talk to me too," Ben said. "It's not like we're keeping score."

"I do need to talk to both of you, and now that you're both here I will, but I just came here first because," she paused, looking down at the floor as she thought. 

"Because this flat feels like home to you," Ben said, squeezing her shoulders before he kissed her cheek. It was only as he walked away that he realized she was biting her lip, upset.

"Does that bother you?" She asked, looking up. "Either of you, I mean." 

"Why would that bother me?" Ben asked. 

"That I come here, and not your place," she said. 

"When I said no one is keeping score I meant it," Ben said. "Besides, this place feels like home to me too. We've both been coming here for longer than you and I have been together." He paused, remembering how much she relied on simple direct answers when she felt at sea. "To answer your question, it doesn't bother me."

"Thank you."

He just nodded as he returned to the kitchen area. Max was having a noisy drink at his bowl and stood back as Tom brought over a scoop of food for him. As always Max had to do a circuit of the table before he sat down to eat, a habit Ben thought probably had to do with making sure the area was clear of threats before he settled down to focus on food. Max was a goofy friendly dog, but there were times Ben was reminded he was descended from wolves. 

Ben brought the teapot to the table just as Tom and Shannon were sitting down, then brought the mugs over. He found himself sitting across from Tom, Shannon at the head of the table. 

"I need to move out of my flat," Shannon said, her eyes fixed on the teapot rather than either of them. 

"Is it us?" Ben asked. The few times he'd been round to hers it hadn't seemed that anyone was too terribly interested in them at all, but he had no idea what things were like for Shannon the rest of the time. 

"It's nothing to do with you, oddly enough. Or very little. It's really down to the fact that I've not been there as much as I used to be, and my absence has left some people thinking that my space is community property." When she looked up he could see that her brow was furrowed, angry rather than simply upset. 

"Did they move someone else in?" Tom asked.

"Not really, but I got home the other day and someone I didn't even know was sleeping in my bed."

Ben didn't even catch what Tom muttered as he hadn't been able to hold back his own comment. "That's just totally unacceptable."

"I agree, and Max said it was Sarah's idea, which I believe. The thing is that Sarah can be stubborn and if it came down to Max defending my personal space or throwing down against her partner I can see Sarah pushing it to the point of forcing her to choose. That doesn't mean it was right. When I confronted Sarah about it she was just totally unapologetic. I mean, she apologized but she just refused to acknowledge how intolerable it was that she'd do that in the first place."

"Are you afraid she'll do that again?" Ben asked.

"Not that exact thing, but she clearly has no regard for my space or things. It's not any one specific problem either but it's just very tense there now, whenever we’re both there."

"It's been coming to this for a while," Tom said. 

Ben looked down at his hands, momentarily discomforted by the reminder that there were conversations between the two of them he hadn't been privy to. When he looked up he was surprised to see Shannon looking right at him. 

"Sarah and Max have been having their own disagreements and problems of late and I'd been staying here some nights even when Tom was away, just to give them some space."

"It hardly seems like they were appreciative," he said, grateful to her for catching him up. 

"Indeed. And I just feel the time has come for me to leave. The thing is I can't afford to live on my own anywhere in the city and I don't want to move as far out as I'd have to, so that means another flatshare. I don't mind that at all, but I know it impacts the two of you, because it will be more people who know about us. Hence me wanting to tell you."

"Would it not make more sense for you to move in with one of us?" Ben asked. 

"You're welcome to the office," Tom said. "You've been getting more use out of it than me anyway."

Ben looked over at her, hoping he was hiding his sense of relief well enough. As much as he loved both Tom and Shannon, he wasn't ready to give up his own space. 

“I could do that,” she said slowly. “Ben, what do you think?”

Ben looked over at her, wondering if he’d missed something. “If it’s alright with you and Tom I don’t see why not.”

“I think it’s going to wind up impacting all three of us when I move, which is why I ask. No matter where I move, I mean.”

“You moving in here means there aren’t new strangers you have to tell about us, or hide us from,” Ben said. “I’m for that.”

“Does it bother you that I’d be living here with Tom?” she asked. “I didn’t decide to move out of my current flat with the thought of moving in here, and it isn’t my intention to stake some kind of a claim to this space. Though I suppose if I live here, that’s kind of inevitable.”

“If I want or need to see one of you without the other, you can come to mine. I like having my own flat, for now. And I’m quite sure I’ll like the fact that you’ll be living that much closer to the both of us.”

“Agreed.” Across the table Tom’s eyes were open, but he had his head tilted back, as if he wasn’t long for the conversation. “When do you want to do this? We need to hire a truck.”

Shannon looked wide awake, even on edge. “Is it really that simple?”

“Sure, just need to pick a day, make some calls. You’ve a bed and a dresser right?”

“That’s essentially all. The rest of the furniture is either theirs or close enough that I’m willing to let it go, no matter where I was going.” 

Tom shook himself and sat up. “That wardrobe isn’t yours?”

Shannon shook her head. “It’s bolted to the wall. Came with the flat.” She flared her nostrils a bit, color rising in her cheeks, and Ben wondered what about that was so upsetting.

“Shannon?” Ben slid his hand over towards hers where it rested on the table. 

“I’m almost thirty and I have a bed and a dresser, full stop,” she said. “I know it’s shallow, I’m just having a moment.”

“You’ve got a sofa too,” Tom said, a sly smile curving just the corner of his mouth. When she huffed out a laugh he stood up and walked behind her, crossing his arms over her shoulders and pulling her close as he leaned over to speak to her. “And a studio and all the work you’ve ever put out in the world so don’t get down on yourself over some furniture.” He kissed the side of her head. “That doesn’t sound like you anyway.”

She shrugged, her shoulders held in by his arms. “I contain multitudes,” she muttered. 

“Be that as it may.” He kissed the side of her head. “Are you ready to have a dog and a toddler as roommates?”

“I think so.” She tilted her head back to look at him. “Is Louis ready to have me as a roommate?” Her eyebrows drew together as she waited for Tom’s answer.

“He’s ready for anything, and he’s always been comfortable with you here. Either of you.” He stood and stretched, his shirt riding up to expose a pale strip of skin just above his jeans, his shirt rumpled as he let his arms down. “If you’re both sleeping here tonight I still get my side of the bed. You two hash out who has the middle.”

“Could we?” Ben asked. It hadn’t occurred to him to do so, but now he wanted it, even if nothing else was on offer. 

“Sleep being the operative word,” Tom said. “I’m fucking exhausted.”

“I’m sorry,” Shannon said, seeming to shrink again.

“Not too tired to figure out you moving,” Tom said. “But surely too tired to handle the both of you. Or even one of you.” He yawned hugely. “Right. I’m going to go lie down before I fall down.”

Ben tilted his head back as Tom walked by, accepting a kiss.

“I might be for sleep soon too,” Shannon said. “Are you going to stay?”

Ben took a drink of his tea, considering. “I wasn’t really planning on going to bed this early but I’d love to stay tonight.” He watched her carefully, not entirely sure she’d tell him to leave even if she wanted him to. “Would that be alright with you?”

“I think it would be lovely. Heaven knows I don’t really want to go home tonight. Well. To my nominal home, anyway.” She poured herself another half cup. 

“Judging from the amount of tea you’re drinking, I’m thinking that I should be in the middle.”

“Probably true,” she said. “Especially as I can’t see Tom being happy to sleep anywhere but his usual spot on the edge.”

Ben looked at her for a moment, considering the small annoyance that her crawling out over him to get to the bathroom in the night might be against the fatigue etched into her face. 

“You go ahead to bed, and I’ll come in when I’m tired,” he said. “You can have the middle.”

She smiled as she stood, collecting her mug and Tom’s as well. “I’ll take it.” She paused to kiss him on the cheek as she walked by. “Can’t say I wasn’t looking forward to it.”

He looked after her as she went to the sink, giving the mugs a quick rinse before placing them in the dishwasher. “Really,” he said, thoughtfully. He didn’t miss the high color in her cheeks when she turned around. “Anything else you’ve been looking forward to?” She looked away, turning to the sink again, and he stood up and went over to her, loosely wrapping his arms around her shoulders. “You’re allowed to want things, but if you don’t tell us we won’t know, right?”

She turned around and rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed. “It’s just a bit silly,” she said. 

“If it’s something you want that I could give you, it would be silly not to say, wouldn’t it?”

She sighed, her back rising and falling against his hands. 

"Before I even knew you, before I even considered polyamory, I had my little fantasies, like everyone."

"Like everyone," he agreed. "You don't have to call them little."

"Only this isn't anything I was going to pursue," she said. "I just had this thought that it would be nice, really nice, to be with two men. In a specific, one might say naive, way."

Ben pulled back so he could look at her, cupping the back of her head and letting his fingertips rub against her scalp. "What do you mean, naive?"

"Oh, it was just a simple thought I'd have when I was falling asleep, or when I couldn't sleep and was feeling lonely or put-upon. That it would be really nice to be embraced, I mean, sort of snuggled between two men. One behind me, one in front of me, just wrapped up in warmth and, I don't know, their good regard."

"Why does that strike you as naive?" There was a sense of worry at the edge of his mind but he waited for her to tell him what she meant.

"Just that it's so born out of me being lonely, and imagining that there would ever be not just one but two people who would think that much of me and expect nothing in return."

"Not unreasonable as it turns out," he said. "Considering we’ve already both been with you at the same time." 

She let her head thunk against his chest as she leaned close again, hiding even as she was drawing nearer, then tilted her head up towards him again.

“Getting wanked off by a half asleep man while being fucked by the other was hotter than anything I’d ever dreamed up, but I’m still greedy enough to want that specific fantasy.” 

"It’s not greedy to want what we want to give you. When we say you can have anything, we mean it."

She leaned her head back even more, looking at him from under her lashes, as if he were somehow further away. “I want to be surrounded.” She paused, her lips parted, a deep breath pushing her chest against his. “I want to be overwhelmed.”

“Hmmm.” He’d meant it to be a thoughtful sound, but as he bent his head to her neck he realized it had come out as more of a growl. He slowed himself, pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her neck as he reached up to hold the back of her head, gently encouraging her to straighten her neck. “You can have that.” He took a half step back, needing some space between them. She’d said she wanted to be overwhelmed, but the thought that had rushed to his mind was Shannon being dominated by both Tom and himself, and he was overwhelmed himself by how much he wanted that.

"I'll keep that in mind." She looked up at him, her face finally relaxed.

"If Tom were only awake enough to be present I'm sure we could try it tonight."

"As it is, being between the two of you won't be a hardship," she said, smiling. "I know it seems funny but I'm usually the big spoon."

"Tom says I'm a floppy spaghetti noodle that fell into the cutlery drawer, if anything."

Shannon laughed. "I'd say that's fairly accurate. For now though, I'm ready for bed." She blinked slowly, and he fought the urge to simply pick her up and bring her to the bedroom. 

"What do you need to do beforehand?" He asked.

"Teeth. Pajamas." She looked over at the sofa. "I'll take care of all that in the morning."

"Go on then." She walked to the bedroom, and he turned to the sofa, marking her place in the book, stacking her documents and placing the book and her papers on the coffee table. He folded the throw and draped it over the back of the sofa and brought her glass to the dishwasher, leaving the lounge roughly as she had probably found it that evening. 

When he was done he went to the bedroom to find Shannon standing at the edge of the bed, just pulling on a soft worn t-shirt over her pajama pants. He waited for her to pull her hair back before he reached behind her, pulling down the duvet so she could crawl in, the curve of her body just tracing the line of Tom's spine. She settled her hand on top of his shoulder as Ben pulled the blanket over her. He kissed her cheek and rubbed the back of her neck, smoothing the blanket down close against her skin. She sighed, settling in, and he left as quietly as he could. 

In the main part of the house he sat down at the kitchen table with his laptop, answering emails from various contacts and adding events to his calendar, trying not to sigh at some. Not every aspect of his job could be creative or fun, or even immediately productive. He forced himself to finish, sending a quick email to Karon regarding his updated calendar and found himself checking the clock for the third time in two minutes. He rubbed his eyes as he considered checking the BBC news site, then shut the computer down.

He glanced over at Max, who seemed to sense the attention and lifted his head off his paws.

“What do you think, Max, a stroll before bed?” He took the chance that the word stroll wouldn’t send the dog into a frenzy, and it seemed to work, Max following him sedately through the flat to the front door. Ben clipped on his leash and stuck a plastic bag in his pocket before leaving, wondering if the sound of the door would wake either Tom or Shannon. Tom had probably taken Max on a walk before coming home, but Max seemed game for a brisk trot to his favorite corner of the nearby park. Luckily for Ben there was no need for the plastic bag, and Max turned towards home just as Ben was feeling the cold of the evening himself.

Back in the flat Max put himself straight to bed, turning round in his crate a few times before settling. Ben found his large yawn contagious, and decided not to fight sleep any longer, despite the relatively early hour. 

He brushed his teeth and washed his face, undressing down to his pants and moving as quietly as he could once he was back in the bedroom. He stood still just outside the washroom, letting his eyes get used to the dark. As he got closer to the bed he could see Shannon’s hand on Tom’s shoulder, her forehead nearly resting against his back. He lifted the duvet to get in, just able to see her half turn towards him. She shimmied back up towards her pillow, drawing her arm under the covers as she sank back down.

Ben tentatively placed his arm over her waist, not sure she’d want that weight on her as she slept. She reached down and adjusted his forearm so it was lower over her hip, then pressed back against him, her bum against his thighs, her knees drawing up so her calves were pressed against his legs. He took the hint and shifted closer, letting himself lean against her. She pressed against his chest even more firmly as she took a deep breath, then relaxed as she sighed, her shoulders twisting back and forth in a way he’d come to suspect meant she was relishing something. It held true even when she was barely conscious, apparently, as he was sure she was truly asleep by the time he’d closed his eyes. The rhythm of her breath and the warmth of all three of them under the blanket soon lulled him to sleep as well. When she did finally extract herself from between them in the middle of the night he barely woke, rolling onto his back as he waited for her. When she returned moments later she somehow still found space between the two of them, curling up spine to spine with Tom as she flung her leg over both of his, her hand holding on to the fabric of his shirt as she hitched herself a bit higher in the bed. He had only a moment to think it was a good thing that he didn’t mind being touched as he slept before he was asleep once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Find us [here](https://cumberhardhiddlesbitch.tumblr.com/) over at tumblr and say hey or ask questions or just look at our pretty, pretty boys.


End file.
